This is much greater than the loss of $2.75 billion for the previous financial year.

However the company claimed in a statement that it had delivered "strong financial results, exceeding key targets set by the board".

"The footprint near doubled to 5.7 million premises, active end users doubled to 2.4 million premises and revenue more than doubled to $1 billion," it said.

Chief executive Bill Morrow took home $3.56 million for the year to become the second highest paid public sector boss in the country. Australia Post's Ahmed Fahour was paid $6.06 million last year.

The company's revenue was just over $1 billion compared to the previous year's $421 million. Average revenue per user was flat at $43.

A summary, jointly signed by Morrow and chairman Ziggy Switkowski, said: “With more than one in two homes now able to order a service over the NBN network, NBN Co and its delivery partners are very much on track, with an expectation that almost three in four premises will be able to connect by 30 June 2018.

“As more data-heavy applications are used by Australians, NBN Co expects usage to continue to grow, driving demand for higher speed tier internet plans.

“With a greater focus on speed, increased performance visibility will be expected as it is in other global markets. NBN Co continues to work with the industry and regulators to provide clear, timely, factual information on the network and premises’ line speeds.

“By the end of 2017, every existing eligible home and business in Australia will be either in design, construction or already able to order a service over the NBN network.”

NBN Co also promised increases for the Sky Muster wholesale data cap in October to improve services in the bush, as well “even faster speeds” in 2018 than the existing 100Mbps.

The annual report can be accessed here.